He also may have hit a wall... he has gotten to the point where he has reached his top ability on his own, and is too frustrated to go on without guidance. He would need some instruction. I wish I could say you can do it on your own, but if you aren't very arty... you might have trouble teaching it, and he will not feel too great about that. I would say that you should look around where you live for some drawing classes. Libraries have them sometimes, if you are on a serious budget. Also, if there aren't any local art classes you should look around for someone to teach 1:1, or arrange a class with other hsers. I say this from experience, as I come from a family of professional artists and had abundant natural talent, but no formal instruction. At a certain point, I realized that I didn't really know how to draw other than what I just had inside of me, and I grew so frustrated/irritated that I stopped all together. I am not saying that this is where your son is, but it is something to take into consideration. Then again, it might be that he is in an art "out phase", and he will come back to it in a while. good luck!

I am an ecclectic. I will NEVER find a style that is perfect or that I will stick with, as I feel that HSing is a totally personal and organic, ever morphing beast. ;) I agree with what was said COMPLETELY. However, having a general idea of different "styles" can give some guidance to newbies.... a starting point.... a framework to start from. I have a feeling that my friend and I will end up with a very interesting wrap-up. Thanks so far and keep the ideas coming! :D

I am co-hosting a HS meeting about different styles of HSing. I was hoping to type up a sheet with some very short, basic definitions of as many different styles as possible, with a good website, book and curriculum recommendation. The problem is that I don't think that I should attempt to define methods that I don't use. Also, someone else might be able to come up with a better "blurb" than I can. So please! try to define ANY style you wish, whether you use it or not, a great website for it (yahoo groups are fine too), and some book/ curriculum suggestions. These are the types I can come up with.... feel free to add! Classical (both neo-classical (wtm) and a more formal classical... LCC?) Charlotte Mason Unschooling Thomas Jefferson traditional (school at home- does ANYONE do this? :)) eschool/ computer based ecclectic wow, my brain can't think of any more this second....:ack2: BTW, this is for an INCLUSIVE group. Add whatever religious/secular comments you want. I will edit as needed. We are going to start off explaining that the style that you pick initially has a lot to do with WHY you HS in the first place.... as that is my belief. Any input at all is appreciated!!! Thanks in advance!!!! Korin

YES!!!! :D I wing it (even though things like math tend to be.... next lesson in book) and THEN I write it down, so I guess I do it backwards! Then when I look back over the last few days or weeks and a subject seems to be ignored, I pick up whatever I have for that subject and do it. Or we just go get ice cream. I find actual scheduling to be more of a waste of my time than it is worth. Especially as I am not a good schedule follower. :001_smile:

when in doubt, go to http://www.whatsthatbug.com

call RFWP and ask. They will figure it our for you. You will only need the TMs (except for practice books, you'll need both). You need both further up in the program. As far as scheduling goes... I think that you should just schedule "doing" it, not page numbers, subjects, whatever. It is a bit organic, can be a few pages worth or half the book... depending on the subject and the day. My kids are mostly through town level, will buy the next level within a month or two. Caesar's English is MY favorite, Paragraph Town is my boys' favorite. They LOVE doing the sentences in the practice books. This is my number one curriculum find.

YES! Key to fractions! It will really help. You would only need book 1, possibly book 2, for where they are in 4A. My one son needed help with it, my other seems not to.

There is this.... http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/html/educatorsFAQ.htm I saw these guys (and the 35$ "kit" materials) at the cincinnati HS convention, and it seemed like an awesome deal, with a ton of aeronautic stuff. I was on a tight budget otherwise this is what I would've splurged on. Just another thing to look at!

I would suggest going to http://www.greatscopes.com They have a whole section on picking the right microscope. Write them for a HS discount (10% off) they will really help you. I also think they are a HS family. When I finally get our microscope (that will last us through highschool) we will buy from them and get either the Observer II, III or IV.

Rainbow Resource sells quite a few of them (and the NAXOS recordings which are also great) and they are reasonably priced. Then you can keep them for a later listening or sell them and make back some of your money... which you can put towards some new ones!

Homeschooling really does become a "lifestyle" choice after a while. A book you might want to look at (I did NOT read it cover to cover, but thought it would be a good "thinking about HSing book") The Homeschooling Option by Lisa Rivero. She never4 intended on HSing, just decided to do it while waiting for a spot to open in the "great" private school, and when it did... she couldn't do it! So I would say it is an interesting viewpoint. Many people choose to before they have kids, some choose to when school age gets close, and others start after they have had negative experiences in brick and mortar schools. There are a million reasons why and how you can HS, and it is dependant on each individual family. I think everyone here who is 100% committed to HSing has had days they think it isn't working, or they made a mistake or it is driving them crazy... so of course it will happen if you are on the fence. HSing has both positive and negative aspects, just as any school does. Other than doing a lot of reading, and advice asking... you could write up a pros and cons list for HSing AND PS/private schooling. Try to think of everything you can, and then just look at it. See which outweighs which, and where the most important factors for your family lies. It might be a nice eye opener. I also would say, that until YOU are extremely confident with the decision...and can really support your feelings/thoughts/reasoning for wanting to HS you should not press the issue too much with your husband. You have plenty of time for that. :D enjoy your little ones!!! HSing is NOT like in a classroom. You do not wrangle 25+ kids. You only need to worry about the one you are doing things with right then. It doesn't take as much time as you think it should. I am babbling, and need to teach MY kids something.... :lol: Good luck! Don't fret!

Rome: Pantheon!!! Hadrian's Tomb (Castle St. Angelo)!!! buy your tickets for the forum/coliseum combo at the far forum entrance (barely any line) unless you want to stand in a long line at the coliseum. If you already have your ticket you get put in another line. MAke your reservations to the Galleria Borghese ahead of time. We didn't get to go because of that. Walk down Via Veneto. Don't be afraid to take the subway. Don't be afraid to walk into any church or open doorway, you might find an amazing achitectural gem! Florence: Spend the $$ to climb the duomo. Unless you have vertigo and/or claustrophobia or weak legs. :) If you can go to Siena, do it. If you can go to Lucca, do it. If you can go to the Cinque Terre and portovenere do it. What a great trip and have a great time! I will some day get to putting our family's last trip up on my blog then I will post it. I have only been twice but my husband is from Italy and all his family is there. I actually got stopped in Florence to sign a petition, as I guess I didn't look like a tourist! Don't forget to experiment with your gelato flavors!:D And go into local shops to get little picnic lunches and evening food supplies!

oh yeah... You know my kids are HSed because they.... Don't have cell phones!!!

They wear traditional "nice" clothes because they want to, don't like spongebob, know the difference between Greeks, Roman, Gauls, Celts, Saxons, and can explain what the Renaissance is, don't call other kids "idiot" and can play with kids that are several years younger than themselves w/o being embarrassed. oh yeah, and they enjoy their family's company. :D

I have been dying my hair since I was 12. I started off goofy, early punk rock/new romantic days... then by senior year I settled on a good vibrant red. I have been fluctuating between a rich burgundy and a flame red since then. Now that I am getting grey hair, it is like i have natural highlights. :) I *think* my hair is a mousey brown. I haven't really seen it 20 years. My mom's side of the family turns pure white by 35, by dad's side, barely anything until 80. My one brother has none, my other has the white hair... I am in the middle. Ah, genetics! I would have no problem going all white, but it does not seem to be in the cards. This wishy washy-ness though, not acceptable. I will end up being an 80 year old flaming red-head with one swath of white hair for fun. Oh, and I let my 9 year old son cut my hair for 50 cents. He does a good job, and you can't be upset about a haircut less than a dollar! ;)

oops brain freeze

Just to clarify... so you know where I am coming from... the minimum reward level is... 15 marbles.... for 30 min. of computer time. A small lego pack is 50 (which I am adjusting up) and if they wanted to trade it in for cash it would be 100 marbles for 5$. That takes a decent amount of time. It is not like every day they get to go to the ice cream store! :) It is a visual, touchable way for them to see their progress and effort... it is just something we are trying, and so far I am pretty happy with it. I would hope that *eventually* it is not necessary, but at least for a while... it is working. I think it is hard to motivate a 10 year old boy. ;) It is better than saying "you can get such and such as a reward for finishing your math book.... " my one son would try to finish his whole math book in 1 day and the other would see it as an unreachable goal! BTW... the PS listed every kid in the paper that had acheived whatever their level of excellence was, and they go to go to a banquet with a bunch of football players (which I thought was funny). But during the year these kids would get toys, prizes, pizza parties, etc etc I am talking every week. That is just what the school system does. blah blah blah... :D

Both my sons are NOT c'd. Neither is my husband. It is more than just a piece of skin.... really it is. Trust me. I see that it is probably not good to get into specifics here... but if my kids, when adults, elect to have the procedure done... that will be up to them. I will try to talk them out of it of course.... :) If they choose to cut down their sensitivity in that area... (excuse the pun) All you need to do is teach your sons to clean the area when they bathe. Is that so hard? like "clean behind your ears, between your toes and beneath your foreskin." That's it.

Well, either I am TOTALLY off the mark here, or just with those who chose to post.... I JUST started an incentive program. I decided that my kids weren't seeing the actual reward in doing their schoolwork. I started having a change of heart when my friends who have PS kids got heir name in the paper, got to go to a city-wide special "academic greatness" award banquet, and was told that all during the year they got little perks for having good grades. I also had heard of people giving their kids $$ for good grades. Anyway, I took the ideas and made up my own system. I bought 2 bags of marbles. I wrote a list of rewards they could earn by turning in marbles, amount of marbles for each thing etc etc. They can earn 1 marble for each "lesson" they complete. If they do A quality work they get a second marble and if they do that in a subject they have trouble with they can earn a third. Rewards include things like: 30 min of computer time, a movie (in the house), laser tag, a trip to the chinese buffet, playground trip, swimming, a small lego pack etc etc. So far it has been amazing. My boys tend to be lethargic about schoolwork and I needed to give them a boost. They are totally excited about earning their marbles, getting to their work, doing a good job at it, and have stopped griping for the most part. I also have been giving myself marbles for actually getting to a lesson (I tend to find excuses myself)I am trying to think of it as paid job .... Anyway, I am SURE that you guys will disagree with me! However, before you judge my decision.... we have NO ALLOWANCE, no reward for normal household chores and my boys have a paper route. Korin

I have a bit of a problem avoiding the TaG issue, as I am on the board of a gifted enrichment program and just about all the HSers here know it. I am a bit notorious. I am of the opinion that a LOT of kids who are HSed for non-religious reasons are some level of gifted. This just comes from my own experience. I rarely get asked the question, but when I do I am the one who rolls MY eyes and reply that I have so many different reasons, it is hard to narrow down.....

Don't worry about it! The "regular" LA curriculum is different. MCT does things a bit differently, but it is so worth it! I am sure when you get your town level stuff you will say... "what...??!!" but seriously.... once you really look at it and don't freak out about how it should be "scheduled" you will do fine! I would say that any MCT component should be penciled in just as "grammar town" or "Caesar's English 1" then write down how far you got in it that day. Some days will be only a few pages (with a LOT of discussion) and others will be like 30 pages. Remember that the first book is grammar town *then* you go to Paragraph town, and you start CE as soon as you want. Poetics can also be anywhere. Sorry for the implementation of Town.... just didn't want you to get discouraged while reading a thread about a different MCT product. :)

I know :D... but I meant that if the person in the sign shop (the LAST proofreader) doesn't know that it is wrong and doesn't point it out...

It would depend on the amount of pages in the lesson, the child and what side of the bed you both woke up on! I am in 4A with one and 4B with the other. I have one slow math learner who forgets everything and another who needs zero help. I try to keep things under 30 min. My one... I show him the lesson, and he does it. He rarely makes a mistake. My other one we will only do 1 page at a time, if he is doing well (and in a good mood), I will push it to 2. I rarely use the textbook, but I have them. I try to supplement math with "fun stuff". That means a card game, reading from various math books (Theoni Papas, Anno, Murderous Maths), orally doing Zaccarro's Challenge math and books from the "Key to... " series. Some subjects your kid will intuitively understand and fly through, and others will take forever... don't be afraid to keep going as long as your kid wants to, skip around in the books to a different subject, or only do one page. korin

well, I screwed up, as I did it for my one child not both. i thought I could enter both separately. :glare: For my son that I couldn't enter... Math, Visual (fine art drawing), Science, Creative thinking and problem solving... I have now forgotten all the categories.... oh well....

The misused apostrophe is my pet peeve. I really feel that so many people are now unaware of the right way to use an apostrophe vs. plural, that it might be screwed up forever! I am always amazed that it gets past the sign printer or maker... but if they are ignorant about it... My local favorite..... Angelas Treasure's. ????!!!!! :banghead: a recent sign I saw on a vacant lot "Built to Suite"